Redemption In Birmingham

When Arsenal sacked him in the fall of 2019, Unai Emery’s prospects of another top-level job appeared to be over. Coupled with a disastrous run in Paris, it seemed that the Spaniard would return to La Liga to manage Europa League clubs.

Aston Villa eventually came calling, offering him a chance at redemption in the Prem.

Despite a tough loss to Brentford, Villa remain in the title race. Only seven points off of first, with 14 games left, Emery may get a chance to push his former employers to the brink.

Emery’s tenure in Birmingham could not be any more different from his time in London. In the English and French capitals, the task at hand grew into a mess that eventually enveloped the manager—weird transfers mixed with outlandish expectations sank him.

For the most part, he avoided that when he took the Villa job. While the club teetered around the relegation zone upon his arrival, no one expected him to turn them into a club constantly challenging for Europe. With the club’s full support and much-needed freedom, the Spaniard revived his career in Birmingham.

Few managers in modern football are afforded the chances that Emery has been afforded.

Essentially, his ability to win the Europa League with any side continues to give him more runway than expected.

In 2018, Arsène Wenger finally called an end to his time as Arsenal manager. Similar to replacing Sir Alex Ferguson at United, whoever took the job would likely inherit one of the toughest jobs in football.

After being sold to the PSG faithful as the manager with the potential to deliver the club its first Champions League, his time in Paris quickly fell apart, the victim of la remontada. He never found a way to push the club to the next level. With the club transitioning from the Zlatan era to the Neymar era, Emery spent most of his time in Paris as a sort of lame-duck manager.

PSG always placed their trust in their ability to bring in any and every player they wanted, which left Emery and all subsequent PSG managers as placeholders. As he took over a club trying to find their next superstar, it never felt that Emery would last in the French capital.

Eventually, his time in Paris came to an end in the spring of 2018, leaving almost no impact on the club. Despite the lack of any signs of elevating a Champions League side, Emery’s trophy cabinet helped push Arsenal towards him. Winning three consecutive Europa Leagues with Sevilla prior to joining PSG seemed like the perfect background for the next Arsenal manager.

Lasting only one full season in London, the Spaniard’s time with the Gunners can best be characterized as weird. Emery guided Arsenal to a Europa League final appearance, eventually losing to Chelsea and missing out on a Champions League spot. However, a collapse in the second season spelled the end for the first heir to Wegener’s throne.

Once more, his cabinet proved to be too good for clubs to stay away, with Villareal appointing him as manager a year after his Arsenal dismissal. A Europa League in his first season cemented his status as the tournament’s ultimate conqueror. A deep run in the Champions League in his second, and final, season with the Yellow Submarine immediately pushed him back on the radar of clubs across Europe.

Seeing him as the perfect manager to push Villa out of the cellar and into the top half, Villa eventually bought out his contract.

With perhaps the lowest set of expectations in years, Emery arrived in the Prem looking for revenge.

What continues to undergird Emery’s time with contenders is the timing. Every previous high-profile appointment in his past came at a time when his arrival conflicted with the club’s aims. 

Credit: Unai Emery-Facebook

At both Arsenal and PSG, the Spaniard clashed with the club’s vision. Both teams wanted and needed to essentially return to contention at the highest level almost immediately. Emery, on the other hand, hoped that he would be given the room to build something.

Arsenal eventually gave Emery’s successor the proper rebuilding time, but the Spaniard felt pressured to return to the club’s golden age. Large transfers followed his first season, as the club filled the squad with players who didn’t necessarily fit the manager’s vision. Eventually, Emery crumbled under the pressure, leaving the club needing a rest.

The PSG experience served as an omen, given the sudden change in expectations the moment the club signed Neymar in his second season. From the moment that Neymar arrived in Paris, Emery’s days became numbered. 

After a rehab with Villareal, Villa came calling with the chance at delivering a club from lower table obscurity. No longer did the club’s goals revolve around becoming, or returning, to the elite level of global football. This shift in expectations doesn’t ignore the stature of the Birmingham club; it highlights the type of project that best fits Emery.

With more transfers who fit into his plans, time to flesh out his system and tactics that better translate to the Prem, he found redemption. By the end of his second season, the Spaniard pushed Villa to a sort of sustained success that clubs of similar ilk, like Newcastle, could only dream of. Finally free to shape a club’s destiny in the Prem, Emery has finally become the manager that Arsenal expected.

Failing in two different capital cities eventually led a very talented manager to a place that he could call home.

With plenty of intriguing managerial positions likely to open soon, the once much sought-after manager may soon have a new market.

Very few modern managers possess the career path of Emery. Clearly, a talented manager capable of winning European titles, he never found a home among Europe’s elite.

In a way, condemning him to a sort of roving samurai role in search of his forever home.